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IB Psychology
Daphnee Pita, Rikki Ignacio, Gerlene Ragsac, Elizabeth Wells, and Pomai Nakoa
Assess the extent to which biological, cognitive, and sociocultural factors influence human development Pomai
To better understand how the three levels of analysis affect human development
Purpose
As newborns we show certain characteristics that are universal in all human beings
E.g. sucking, grasping, and basic visual and auditory abilities (seem prepared for social interaction with others)
Brain Development
Brain of a newborn has more than a trillion nerve cells that communicate across many trillions of synapses Supported by a trillion glial cells Account for 90% of the cells in the human brain Central Nervous system continues to grow In both size and complexity (after birth) Synaptic growth is most significant in the first year of life Growth of the gap between two neurons, over which impulses lead to learning Brain Activity increases with synaptic growth Continues on during childhood and into late adolescence Neural connections can be formed over an entire life span because human brains are equipped for lifelong learning Ability to change and develop in response to the environment = neuroplasticity
Brain Development
Age 6-9 months: frontal lobes and prefrontal areas of the cortex begin to function more fully (due to development of the brain during adolescence, myelinization) Growth in hippocampus and cerebellum, also Control center for body movements
Psychologists believe this to be the reason they now have more complex motor behavior and an increased ability to learn
Middle Childhood: frontal lobe growth persists Hypothesis: The pattern of brain changes taking place between 5 and 7 years of age enables the frontal lobes to coordinate the activities of other brain centers (Case 1991) More complex behaviors become possible
The Cognitive Level of Human beings are information Analysis processors and mental processes guide
behavior Cognitive development is dependent on how the individual child interacts with the social and physical world -John Piaget
Suggested that children use strategies in thinking and problem solving that reflect dif. stages of cognitive development
Kept a baby diary for each of his four children (clinical interview journal)
Red triangle
Concept of zone of proximal development Refers to the difference between what a child can do on his/her own and what he/she can accomplish with help Child can increase in competence if he or she receives assistance to perform a task thats slightly beyond his/her current ability (scaffolding) Successful scaffolding can change the childs level of performance on a particular task. Example: Children growing up in very poor families, with low social status, experience levels of stress that may impair brain development.
Sociocultural theory
Methodologies
Observations or Interviews Laboratory Experiments Naturalistic Studies or Case Studies Longitudinal Studies Cross-Sectional Studies
Longitudinal Studies
Used in developmental psychology to measure change over time
Strengths Provide rich data about kinds of experiences can influence development No participant variables
Limitations Time consuming Participants may decide to leave the study early, making it difficult to generalize from the study
Cross-Sectional Studies
Used in developmental psychology to test the change of a variable in different age groups
Strengths Less time consuming Fewer participants are lost during the process
Limitations Uses different participants at different age groups Cannot be certain the difference in the variable is solely due to age change
Piagets Interviews
Open-ended, conversational attempt to understand the childs judgments and explanations. He studied his 4 children Must be trained for a year to be an interviewer Detailed notes and baby dairies are the product
Cognitive Development
Gerlene Ragsac
Zone of Proximal-Development: Difference in how a child works alone or with help. Scaffolding: increasing own abilities by getting help from someone else, for a large task. Cooperative Learning, rather than child-centred learning.
Kids work with objects hands-on or mentally Strategies used by children show stages in their development
Piagets Methods
Case studies: 4 own children baby diaries with observations and conversations Clinical Interview: Minimum amount of influence by the questioner
Allows the child to answer with their own perspective of what happens and how/why Training lasted for a year before starting
Piagets Beliefs
Schemas are the things that change Children begin with an assortment of natural schemas Adaptation: Existing schemas that change due to experience
Sucking, reaching, grasping, etc.
Sees a tractor, which isnt a car car schema excludes tractor and makes a new tractor schema
Donaldson (1984) Task wasnt an ordinary task that most children do on a daily basis Hughes (1975) Used a doll and policeman
Perpendicular pieces of wood were placed Child questioned on if the policeman could see the doll; given the task to hide the doll
Speaking abilities but can only focus on one topic/aspect/situation at each time Egocentrism: Own perspective only cognitive limitation due to inability of understanding other viewpoints
Physical properties remain constant even if the appearance changes Children are concerned about seeing the action, rather than analyzing it
Water poured into different sized glasses
Conservation Limitation 2
486 Chinese primary schools used Percentage of right replies improved with age. Better school image did well, compared to less privileged schools.
Education affects cognitive development as well.
Abstract logic can be used manipulate various concepts and grasp unusual ideas. Education plays a key role on when a person reaches this stage .
Some traits in children are found in earlier ages than those Piaget predicted Social learning wasnt treated as important
Self-discovery was all that mattered Social/Cultural context was disregarded
Understanding a childs pursuit of knowledge includes considering cultural/social aspects Human interaction + cultural tools
Actual tools, or observed social norms aids in understanding what to think, and how Imitation, instructions, or collaboration Language: precious tool to pass information
Discuss how social and environmental variables may affect cognitive development. Rikki Ignacio
Educational Environment/Poverty
Poor nutrition, poverty-related health problems, home environment, parenting practices, and living in poor neighborhoods with high levels of crime and unemployment are all factors that may impact cognitive development in children and influence the possibility of education.
Wertheimer (2003) found that children from poor families were less likely to be identified as academically gifted, more likely to repeat a year in school, less likely to participate in extracurricular activities, and more likely to suffer from learning disabilities and developmental delays when compared to children who are not living in poverty.
Poverty
Cognitive researchers found that poverty is one of the major risk factors in childrens cognitive development An economist named Paul Krugman (2008) commented on the findings from neuroscientists. Children growing up in very poor families with a low social status experience levels of stress hormones that may impair brain development and cognitive function Also, in 2006 17.4% of children in the US live below the poverty line Krugman argued that children born to the poorest parents have an almost 50% risk of remaining in that position (particularly true for children from ethnic minorities)
Educational Environment/Poverty
Referring to the National Center for Children in Poverty, 1/3 of children from low-income communities who enter kindergarten are behind their peers; in their 4th year of elementary school 50% of these children do not meet the reading proficiency. Generally children who suffer rom poverty have a worse academic performance than that of children who are not impoverished; they are less likely to enter university; and more likely to become teen parents and to be unemployed.
Nourishment/Diet
Research in the US shows that poor children are more likely to experience stunted growth and problems with cognitive development than more privileged children
Inadequate food intake limits childrens ability to learn Children who are chronically undernourished become less active and show less interest in their social environment and exhibit less emotional expression If children are given appropriate food and stimulation, it can modify cognitive impairment caused by earlier malnutrition
According to Ernesto Pollit (Professor of pediatrics at the University of California) nutrition and prenatal care for pregnant women, school breakfast programs, and special food supplement programs fro women and children have positive effects on the cognitive development of children
According to researchers the exact link between socio-economic background and individual development is not fully understood. There is a cumulative effect of positive or negative factors related to socio-economic factors. Individuals from more privileged homes have greater education opportunities because of increased access to financial resources (e.g. paying for higher education) more role models, and greater parental expectation than children from less privileged backgrounds.
Early adverse experiences do not necessarily determine the life path of an individual Werner and Smith (1992) carried out a longitudinal study of high-risk children and found that 1/3 adjusted well to adult life Real life connection: Liz Murray (Homeless to Harvard)
Vigotsky believes that cultural and social aspects affect a childs ability to learn
A child can either learn alone or with help, preferably with help in certain tasks Unlike Piaget, he believes that its more of a cooperative learning
Discuss how social and environmental variables may affect cognitive development.
Some social and environmental factors that were discussed that may affect cognitive development are poverty, diet, and educational environment. Poverty is one of the major risk factors that can affect cognitive development because of the levels of stress and lack of financial support which impairs one's abilities to reach their full cognitive potential. The factor of educational environment is closely tied to poverty because generally, children from poverty have worse academic performance in comparison to children who are not impoverished. Diet can affect a person's cognitive development because malnourishment can cause stunted growth and less interest in interaction with social environment which limits a person's ability to learn. Since it has been shown through longitudinal studies, not all people who were born into poverty or into an unstimulating environment have difficulty adjusting to adulthood; there are a sufficient amount successful cases as well.